Cotswolds Walking Tour - Day 2

This is the second of seven posts on our walking tour through the English countryside of the Cotswolds. We took a self-guided tour arranged by English Lakeland Ramblers which meant they provided the B & B accommodations, the transport of our luggage and detailed instructions and maps. It went amazingly smoothly.

Day 2: Stow-on-the-Wold to Bourton-on-the-Water. 5 miles
Walk Description: "Today's route from Stow-on-the-Wold is a leisurely downhill walk across meadows to picturesque Lower Slaughter with its working mill and on to Bourton-on-the-Water with its many attractions."

Interesting note from WWII times as we start on our day's walk.

It's a hazy day but again no rain!  Temperatures are cool.

Red haze must be a field of poppies we think.

Another large manor that we traverse with no fear that we are trespassing.  We carefully close gates as we pass through.

The parish church at Lower Slaughter.

An old mill where we stop for tea and cake.  Our full English breakfasts keep us well satisfied that lunch needs to be very light.

We arrive in Bourton-on-the-Water in early afternoon. School is still in session and youth are playing "football" aka soccer.

The parish church at Bourton-on-the-Water with quite a different sort of steeple.

Bourton is a tourist town.  Not at all what we expected.

Restrooms require a twenty pence payment.

We do the tourist thing and go to Birdland in time for penguin feeding.

Cotswolds Walking Tour - Day 1

This is the first of seven posts on our walking tour through the English countryside of the Cotswolds. We took a self-guided tour arranged by English Lakeland Ramblers which meant they provided the B and B accommodations, the transport of our luggage and detailed instructions and maps. It went amazingly smoothly.

Day 1: Moreton-in-the-Marsh to Stow-on-the-Wold: 7 miles.
Walk Description: "Cross the high wolds to Stow-on-the-Wold, complete with village stocks and picturesque square via the fantastic Mogul manor house at Sezincote and a number of pretty hamlets."  (Sezincote was closed the day we walked so we didn't see it.  Plenty of other things to see.)

Lots of clouds but no rain in forecast.

We set out from Moreton-in-Marsh.

Sign most appropriate as we make our first turn.

We had gotten lost twice before we came to this first village of Longborough.  Here's one of many WWI monuments we will see.

And here's the parish church.  It's open and we stop by to visit.  We make a point of visiting all of these.  This one had a restroom for us to use.

Donnington Manor.  The footpath right of way went right in front of this house.  These ancient pathways crisscross England and in the Cotswolds are well marked.  We learned to look for the circle marks on the stiles, kissing gates, and fences.

In Broadwell another manor with the lovely gold stone of the Cotswolds.

Lunch!  Our first pub.

The parish church at Broadwell.

Almost to Stow-on-the-Wold.  Stopped at the water source for the town, used until the late 19th century.

We made it to our first town!